A Huthi rebel inspects a burnt armoured vehicle on September 13, 2018, near the eastern entrance to the city of Hodeida

(AFP)

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The UN's Yemen envoy Martin Griffiths has met the country's Huthi rebels in a push for new peace talks, as fighting continued Friday around the strategic port city of Hodeida.

Griffiths travelled to the Omani capital Muscat to meet the rebels after they refused to attend negotiations in Geneva last week.

Mohammed Abdulsalam, head of the Huthi delegation, and fellow rebel official Abdelmalak al-Ajri discussed the reasons for their absence from Geneva with the United Nations envoy, the rebel-run Saba news agency said.

The first negotiations between Yemen's warring sides in two years were scheduled to start last Thursday, but a Yemeni government delegation left after the Huthis decided not to attend.

The rebels had accused the UN of failing to guarantee the return of their delegation from Switzerland to the Yemeni capital Sanaa and to secure the evacuation of wounded rebels to Oman.

This Thursday's discussions also covered the "necessary measures" needed for fresh talks set for "as soon as possible", Saba reported.

Hamid Assem, a member of the Huthi delegation, told AFP on Friday there had been no breakthrough.

"There has not been progress regarding the discussions while we have not received the guarantees," he said by phone.

Griffiths is also scheduled to visit the Yemeni capital Sanaa, held by the Huthis, and Saudi Arabia, which leads a coalition against the rebels.